Footpath under a bridge of the Alban Way in winter Footpath under a bridge of the Alban Way in winter. Photo: Peter Constable / Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Open the interactive map → Map of NCN 61 - Maidenhead to Ware

Official route · Sustrans

NCN 61 - Maidenhead to Ware

93.5 km 548 m climbing About 2 days 37% off road Road cycling London & South East

The route runs broadly north-east from Maidenhead, crossing the Thames floodplain before threading through the western suburbs of London via Slough, Uxbridge and the Colne Valley.

The surface is mixed: roughly a third is off road, with the remainder on road. Beyond Watford the urban pressure eases and the line passes through Bricket Wood, Park Street and St Albans before picking a way across the quieter country between Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City. The final stretch follows the Lea Valley down to Ware.

The figures

Distance93.5 km
Climbing548 m
Off road35 km, about 37% of the route
Riding timeabout 8 hours, roughly 2 days at a moderate pace
RegionLondon & South East
Route fromSustrans

Worth knowing before you go

Slough, Uxbridge and Watford all have shops and services, but the stretches either side of Harefield and between Cole Green and Ware are thin for resupply. Navigation through the western London suburbs requires attention where the route crosses and recrosses the road network between Langley and Cowley. The route is tagged as road, so surfaces between off-road sections will be tarmac and open to traffic.

Put your own dates on this and TourTrax splits it into days at your pace, finds somewhere to sleep at the end of each one, estimates what it will cost and gets you to the start without flying.

Plan this route → Download the GPX

Other route guides

NCN 61 - Maidenhead to Ware is an official route from Sustrans (their website).